9 Critical Questions to Ask Your IT Service Provider

Team Members

Who are the team members I'll be working with and what is their experience?

Understanding an IT service provider's core competencies is key, but knowing the individual team members you'll be working with is equally important. You want to work with individuals who are familiar with your organization's industry-specific challenges and really understand your business and its short- and long-term goals.

Often, service providers will introduce you to their top technicians, then pull a bait-and-switch where you get an entirely different team once you sign an agreement. To avoid this, be upfront and ask for introductions to the specific team members you'll be working with should you sign. What are their experience levels? Which certifications do they hold? And most importantly, do you trust them?

There are plenty of good reasons for outsourcing IT operations to a service provider, but doing so comes with inherent risk. Today's organizations are entrusted with customers' financial data and other sensitive information, so it's never been more important to carefully evaluate potential service providers.

A lot is at stake when it comes to IT management, especially around security practices, business continuity and disaster recovery, supporting a mobile workforce and more. After all, your IT operation is the backbone of your business. You simply can't afford to hire a provider that promises the world and doesn't deliver, or even worse, one that doesn't adhere to the right practices.

In this slideshow, Chris Messer, senior vice president of technology at Coretelligent, outlines the nine important questions organizations should ask prospective service providers to be sure they're getting the right business partner.

Chris Messer is senior vice president of technology at Coretelligent, a leading provider of comprehensive managed IT and private cloud services. Chris works with some of today's most advanced technologies, and he personally architected Coretelligent's geo-diversified private cloud - CoreCloud - as well as Coretelligent's global client monitoring systems. He advises organizations of all sizes on their IT strategies, and helps develop custom roadmaps for private, public and hybrid cloud deployments.